Package-sealing machine



, H. L. JOHNSON. PACKAGE SEALING MACHINE.

0 n & w DMV: S T. 4E 1 to tn \m u nL &w e m nr n r m a h M .v b

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 3,1918.

H L'JOHNSON.

PACKAGE SEALING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 3, ms.

Ma m n Mw V mm m E tn ed. A pH. n N, \Tl mw mL d6 V S w n w m M P H H. L. JOHNSON.

PACKAGE SEALING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 3. 191a.

Patented Sept. 14, 1920.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

m3 mm I-I-I-E- -I-I-i-E Mi Mi en) A. 5

- f i Inventor. L fi I I Harry L.dohnson H. L. JOHNSON.

PACKAGE SEALING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 3, 1918.

' Patented Sept. 14,1920.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4- Hurry L.-Johnson H. L. JOHNSON.

PACKAGE SEALING MACHINE.

1,352,899. APPLICATION FILED OCT. a. 1918; Patentedsept 14 1920..

6 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

J i 6 \5' d- I 2 ,7 I 9 v I Z "54 3 I I \9- ":1. Li l I 3 (I ,I

d /\v 5 I I Inventor. Hurry L. Johnson by W S mdtz wmnq.

Airys.

H. L. JOHNSON$ PACKAGE SEALING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT-3,1918.

Patnted Sept. 14,1920.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

Fig.18.

uos? if i? 5? 5 \nveniov. Harv L.dohnson by 7 rm1+TmmM Nth UNITED, STATES PATENT'OFFICE.

HARRY JOHNSON, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO PERCY E. GINN, OI BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

PACKAGE-SEALING MACHINE.

To all whom it may concern:

. Be it 'known that I, HARRY L. J OHNSON, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Package-Sealing Machines, of which the following description, in connection'with the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like characters on the drawing representing like parts.

This invention relates to a machine for sealing cartons of the type known to the trade as a top sealer. These machines are constructed first to foldthe front and rear flaps of a filled carton and then to fold first one side flap over onto the folded front and rear flaps and then the other side flap over onto the first named folded side flap, one or both of the side flaps being supplied with glue so as to cause them to adhere when the are folded. uch machines usually comprise a feeding-in conveyer for feeding the filled cartons into the machine, flap-folding and sealing instrumentalities including a conveyer device for moving the filled package forward, folding elements arranged first to fold the front and rear flaps as the carton" is moved forward by the conveyer and then to fold the side flaps successively, and means to apply glue to one. of the side flaps before it is folded, and a drier element which receives the sealed package from the conveyer and holds the folded flaps in position until the adhesive has set.

The objectof my. present invention is to provide animproved top-sealing machine of the above-mentioned type which has various novel features, all as will be more fully hereinafter set forth.

In order to give an understanding of my invention, I have illustrated in 'the drawings a selected embodiment thereof; which will now be described, after which the novel features thereof will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Figure 1 of he a machine embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is atop plan view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a View showing the manner of adjusting the belts of the drier to accommodate different sizes of packages;

Fig. 4 is a detail view of the main .con-' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented sept. 14, 1920.

Application filed October 3, 1918. Serial No. 256,730.

veyer which carries the. packages pastthe folding and sealingelements;

Fig. 5 is a view of one of the paddles or pushers of the conveyer with a part broken out;

Figs. 6 and 7 are side and plan views, respectively, of the controller which controls the delivery of thepackages to the folding and sealing elements;

Fi 8 is a plan view showing some of the fiapolding elements;

Fig. '9 is a plan view showing the folding elements by which the side flaps are folded; Fig. 10 is a detail view showing the manner of folding the end flaps; I

' Figs. 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 show various steps in the process of folding the flapsaof and'sealing the carton as carried. out in the machine;

Fig. 16 is a sectional view showing the manner of holding the top of the carton when the side flaps are being'folded;

Fig. 17 is a view showing the operation of the wheel 95;

Fig. 18 .is a through the drier. Y

Before entering into a detailed description of the machine,- it will perhaps. be of benefit to refer to the successive steps 'of sealing a carton immachines of this type.

The filled cartons 1 come to the machine with the front and rear flaps 2 and 3 and the side flaps 4 and 5 at the top of the carton open, The first step in sealing the carton is that shown in Fig. 11 wherein an end'folder 6 acts on the rear flap 2 and folds the latter ,over. At this time the carton is so p'osi longitudinal sectional view tioned that the front flap 3 rests agalnst a v stationary front flap folder 7, and after the.

rear flap hasbeen folded, the carton is moved carton progresses through the machine after the. front andirear flaps are folded, the side v flaps 4 and 5 are opened out, as 'shownin Fig. drawlngs is a side view of indicated in dotted lines Fig. '13. As' the Q ,carton is then moved forward, the glued. flap 4 is folded over, as shown in Fig; 14, after-, x

' which the flap 5 is folded over onto the flap 4, as shown in Fig. 15, thus sealing the car- 55 said stationary front flap folder 7 As the f mounted on a suitable frame and they around a sprocket wheel 25 on a shaft 26,

are driven by a shaft 11 suitably journaled in the frame. This shaft 11 may be rotated by any suitable means. I have herein shown v a driving pulley 12 loosely mounted thereon and adapted to be clutched thereto by means of a clutch 13 which is controlled by a clutch lever 14.

At the receiving end of the machine is a feeding-in conve er in the form of an endless belt 15 whic passes around pulleys 16, 17 This belt brings the filledpackages into the machineto a transferring device which transfers them to the flap-folding and seal: in mechanism.- The feedin -in belt 15 is drlven from the shaft 11, an for'thus purpose, the pulley 17 is fast on a shaft 18, and

said shaft has a sprocket wheel 19 thereon which is driven from a sprocket chain 20 that passes around a sprocket wheel 21 fast on' a shaft 22. The shaft 22 has a sprocket wheel 23 fast thereon which meshes with a sprocket chain 24 that extends the latter shaft bein geared to driving shaft ll'by the gears 2 28.

The flap-folding devices include not only the folding elements hereinafter described for folding the flaps, but also a guideway 34 along which the cartons are moved during ing-in belt 15, and at the delivery end of said belt is a transferringdevice.adapted to. transfer the cartons successively from the feeding-in'belt to the flap-folding mechanism. This transferring device is in the form of a pusher 29 carried by an arm 30 that depends from a block 31 mounted to reciprocate on a rod or bar 32. Said block is.

provided with an aperture through which extends a rock-shaft 33 that acts as a guide for the block in its reciprocation. The block 31 is reciprocatedlongitudinally of'the rod 32 thereby to carry the transferring element 29 transversely across the feeding-in belt 15. In its retractedposition the transferring element is in the position shown in Fig. 8 at one side of the feeding-in belt'15,-

and when it moves forwardly, it is carried across the feeding-in belt,.thus pushing a carton transversely therefrom into line with and onto the guideway 34 of the flap-folding and sealing mechanism.

The ,block 31 may be reciprocated in any suitable way, but I have herein shown it as actuated from a 'cam 35. on a shaft 78 which is provided with a sprocket wheel over I be crushed b This guideby the shaft is driven by. said sprocket chain. This cam 35 acts against the lower end of a lever 37 pivoted to the frame at 38, the upper end of the lever being connected by a link 39 to an elbow lever 40 which is p oted'to the frame at 41 and is connected t the block 31 by a connection 331.

' At the delivery end of the belt 15 is a stop 42 which arrests the advancing cartons, as shown in dotted lines Fig. 8, and holds each arrested carton in pro er position to.

be acted upon by the trans erring element 29. In order that the transferring element may operate properly, it is, of course, necessary that a carton should be in. position against the rest 42 at each forward movement of the transferrer because if when the transferrer is moved forwardly the foremost carton should be separated some distance from the-stop 42, said carton would the advancing transferring device instea of being transferred to the guideway 34. To prevent this possibility, I have provided herein a novel controlling device which controls the movements of the.

. cartons along the belt 15 and which allows the end carton to move up against the stop 42 only at the time when the transferrer is being retracted into the position shown in Fig. 8. As a result, the foremost carton will always be either against the stop 42 when the transferrer 29 moves forwardly, or will be held back by the controlling device entirely out of the way of the transferrer. This controlling device is in the nature of'a stop arm 43 which is pivotally mounted at the side of the feeding-in belt 15 and which is acted upon by a spring that normally tends to swin it into a position transverse to the belt. he stop arm is shown as provided with trunnions44 which are pivoted between pivot screws 440, and the springwhich acts on the arm tendin to swing it into a position transverse to the belt, as shown in Fig. 7, is indicated at 48. The spring 48 is relatively light so that as long as the packages are bein continuously fed to the transferrer by the feeding-in belt, the

pressure of the -moving packages against,

the arm '43 will hold it in the dotted line position Fig. 7 When the feed of the packages is interrupted, however, the spring 48 will operate automatically to swing the stop into a position/across thebelt. A latch shown at 46 is provided which is adapted to engage automatically with the tail or extension 45 of the stop arm when the latter I ing movement." The latch 46 is provided in dotted lines Fig. 7 by themoving cartons with trunnions 47, which are pivotally mounted between pivot screws 470 and said latch is provided with a tail or arm 56 which is engaged by. a pin 55 carried by a sliding bar 54. This bar is connected to a lever 52 pivoted at 53 to'the frame and acted upon by a cam 49 carried by a shaft 50, said shaft being geared to the shaft 18 by means of gearing 51. The bar 54 is acted upon by a spring 57 which tends to maintain it'in the position shown in Fig. 7. Whenever the cam 49 engages the lever 52 the bar 54 will be moved to the right, Fig. 2, or toward the top of 'the sheet Fig. 7 thereby swinging the latch 46 [out of. engaglement with the tail45 of the stop arm. he stop arm is thus released thereby to allowthe passage of packages along the belt 15.

So long'as there is a continuous feed of packages along the belt 15 the stop arm 43 will be held in its inoperative position shown or packages, but if for any reason there should be an interruption in the feed of the packages, then the stop arm will swin into its operative full line position Fig.

'will be automaticallly locked in suchposition ment. As soon as the latch is released the stop arm will yield and thus allow the pack- I ages to move forward on the belt 15. The

arrangement is such that any package which has been arrested by the stop arm 43 will be carried from its arrested position into a position against the stop 42 while the transferrer is moving from its inward position to l the position shown in Fig. 8. As a result,

when the transferrer moves forwardly the package to be transferred will always'be against the stop. 42 and in position to' be transferred into the guidway 34 without being crushed against the rail 201 associated with the feeding-in belt.

The flap-folding mechanism is of that type which comprises a conveyer device for moving'the cartons along the guideway 34, an oscillatory rearl'fl'a folder 6which acts on and folds the rear ap 2, as seen imFig's. 10 and 11, a stationary front flap folder 7 which engages the front flap 3 as the, carton moves forwardly thereby to fold saidfront flap, devices forapplying glue to both sides ofithe side flap 4, and folding elements for foldingrthe side flaps4 and 5 successively.

The conveyer which carries the; cartons along the guideway 34 is shown as an and less chain 57 which passes, around two sprocket wheels 58 and 59 andv which i s-proand 1 vided at intervals along its length with blocks 60, each of which has a pusher 61 pivotally mounted thereon at 62. Each pusher has an L-shape and is provided with the tail portion 63 which rests against and is guided by a guiding member 64 extending alongside of the'guideway 34, said guiding member 64 operating to hold the pusher 61 at right angles to the chain and in position to carry the cartons along the guideway 34'.

At the delivery end of the guideway 34 the guide 64 is recessed or cut away, as shown at 65, so that when the tailof each pusher has been carried to the point 65, the pusher is allowed to swing backwardly until it lies parallel to thechain and thus becomes ineffective for advancing the package. This occurs just after the sealed package has been delivered from the guideway to the drier, as I willbe presently described.

Associated with the sprocket wheel 58 is a pusher-positioning plate 69 which isv constructed to engage the tail portion 63 of each pusher as the pushers are carried around said sprocket wheel, this plate 69 operating to positively swing each of the pushers into its operative position as it passes into the entering end of the guideway 34. The sprocket chain 57 may be driven in anysultable way. I have herein shown the sprocket wheel 59 as fast on a vertically extending shaft 66 which carries at its lower end a bevel gear 67 that meshes with another bevel gear 68 on the shaft 78.

Each block 60 is shown as having a friction pin 70 therein which is backed by, a spring 71 and which yieldingly engages the surface 72 of the pusher. This friction device is for the purpose of preventing undue flapping of the pushers as they pass along the back run of the chain.

The rear folder 6 is carried'on an arm 73 which is fast on the rock-shaft 33 and means are provided for oscillating said rock-shaft in timed relation with the movements of the transferring device so that the folder 6 will be given a forward folding movement at the proper time to fold the rear,flap 2 of each carton after it is transferred to the guideway 34. This rock-shaft has fast thereon an arm 74 which is connected by a link 75 to a lever 76 that is actuated from a cam groove in a cam 77 fast on the shaft 78.

The folding of the rear flap 2 by the movement of the rear flap folder 6 takes place just as the carton has been transferred rom the feeding-in belt 15 to the guideway 34 and before the-carton is moved forwardly along the guideway by means of one of the I pushers 61. If the rear flap 2 is somewhat stifl, it sometimes happens that the engagement of the flap" folder 6 therewith tends totip the package'forwardly instead of folding the flap 2 as shown in Figs. 10 and'll. In order to prevent this, I have provided herein a yielding finger 79 which is pivoted to the frame at 80 and is acted upon by a spring 81 which tends to hold itin the position shown in Fig. 8 against the stop 82.

This finger 79 is of such a lengthand is so situated that when each carton has been transferred onto the guideway 34, the end of the finger will engage the upper front .eorner of the carton. The resiliency of the spring 81 is suflicient to hold the carton from tipping when the folder 6 engages and folds the rear flap 2. -When a pusher engages the oarton after the rear flap has thus been folded, the forward movement of the carton will push the finger out of the way against the resiliency of the spring 81, and

when the carton has passed the finger will be again returned to normal position to enated between the side flap folders 88 and.

bulging contour.

and the folded flaps 2 and gage the next carton and prevent it from tipping.

As the cartons are moved forwardly, the

front flap holder 7 engages the front flap 3 and folds the latter, as shown in Fig. 12. At the end of the front flap folder are two flapturning elements 83 and 84 which engage the side flaps 4 and 5 and bend them outwardly into the position shown in Fig. 13. When the flaps have been thus bent outwardly, the flap 4 paxes between two. glue rollers 8 and 9 which apply glue to both sides thereof. The glue roller 9 is mounted on the shaft 26 and operates in a glue receptacle 8 5. The other glue roller 8 is mounted on a shaft 86 which is geared to the shaft 26 by suitable gearing 87.

- After the carton has been carried through the gluing rollers and both sides of the flap 4 have been glued, said carton is acted upon by a side flap folder 88in the form of a resilient wire which has a portion extending diagonally across the. guideway 34, the end 89 of said folder extending parallel to the guideway. The action of this folder 88* against the glued flap 4 folds the latter over onto the folded front and ,rear flaps, as

shown in Fig. 14. Situated at the end of the folder 88 is another folder 90 adapted to act on the flap 5 and fold the latter over onto the flap 4 so that when the carton is carried out from under the folder 90 all the fiaps have been folded.

91 indicate presser rolls which are situ- 90, and which apply pressure to,the folded flaps 4 and insure a tight joint between it It frequently happens that a'filled package will bulge more or less at the sides so that, the sides of thepackage to which the side flaps 4 and 5 are secured will have a Under such conditions, there is apt to exist a space between the edges 92 of the side flaps 2 and 3 after they are folded and the. sidesof the carton which,

if not closed, will allow the contents of the package to sift out even after the flaps 4 j and 5 are folded. In order to provide a non-sifting package, it is desirable that the upper edges of the two sides of the carton should be held firmly against the sides 92 of the front and rear flaps 2 and 3, while the side flaps 4 and 5 are being folded, for

if this is done, the flaps will be squarel folded and no cracks or spaces will be le t through which the contents of the package may sift.

The machine herein illustrated is-so constructed that the upper edges of the sides of the package or carton will-be held firmly against the sides 92 of the front and rear flaps after they are folded,'even though the sides of the package bulge more or less, and

this result is secured without ,compressing the bulging sides of the package below the top edges thereof.

The guideway 34 is formed at its upper the sides is held against .thesides of the folded front and rear flaps without, however, compressing the bulging sides of the I package inwardly. I i

. 95 indicates a fold-tightenin' wheel which is situated adjacent the flap older 90 and is arranged to act on the eorner ofthe package at the base of the flap 53.5 the latter is being folded. This fold-tightening wheel cooperates with the folder to make a square.

corner at the package, for said wheel acts on the corner of the package as the fla 5 is being swun down into its folded -position, as shown in ig. 17, and thus by the time that the flap 5 has been brought firmly into contact with. the folded flap 4 by the -flap folder, the edge of the ackage has been acted on by the wheel.

the corner of the package before the last flap 5 is folded against the flap #4 because 1 after the. flaps are brought into contact the. glue on the flap 5 tends-to hold'themin- 7 position [and prevents any re-adjusting of' the flap necessary to form the square corner.. After the carton has been carried through the folding and sealing devices, it passesinto a drier through which it is conveyed and in which the folded flaps e to pressure until the glue or other adhesive becomes set. a s-This drier is of the known type which comprises a lower endless belt 97 V t is an advantage. to have the fold-tightening wheel acting on subjected or pressure to the top of the package.

thely do through the folding mechanism. h

e belt 98 passes around two pulleys 100 and 200 and the belt 97 passes around two pulleys 101 and 201. The drier is carried on a frame 102 which is separate from the frame 10, but the belts 97, 98 are driven from the same driving mechanism that operates the folding and sealing devices. The belt pulley 100 is mounted on a shaft 103 which is geared to a vertical shaft 104 by means of bevel gears 105. The shaft'104 is j ournaled in bearings 204, 205 carried by the frame 102 and said shaft is connected b gears 108 to a shaft 109 on which the be t pulley 101 is fast. The shaft 104 has a sprocket wheel 225 thereon around which passes a sprocket chain 106, the latter being driven by a sprocket wheel on the shaft 66. The belt pulley 201 is also positively driven so that the lower belt 97 will be driven from both ends. This belt pulley 201 is fast on a shaft 213 which is connected by bevel gears 214 to a shaft 107 extendin longitudinally of the drier frame, said 8 aft being connected to the shaft 109 by bevel gears 110. The lower belt carries the load of the packages or cartons being conveyed through the drier and the advantage of having it driven positively at both ends is that a more even feed of the packages will be secured.

The lower belt is vertically adjustable so as to vary the space between the belts to: accommodate cartons of different sizes. This adjustment is provided for by mounting the shafts 109 and 213 in supporting frames 111 that are vertically adjustable on the main frame 102. Each supporting frame has an adjusting screw 112 screwthreaded thereto, each adjusting screw also having screw-threaded engagement with the main frame at 221. Each adjusting screw is provided with a ri ht and left screwthread so that the turning of the adjusting screws will give a quick vertical movement to the supplemental frames 111. The adj usting screws are connected by the shaft 117 and suitable gearing 118 said shaft having 1 a hand wheel 119 thereon by which it may beturned. The bearing 205 is carried by the supporting frames 111. One of the gears 105 is splined on the shaft 104. This permits the shaft 104 to be adjusted vertically with the frame 111 while maintaining the proper operative connection between thebelts. In some machines of this type the drier element is spaced somewhat from the fold? ing and sealing mechanism so that as each carton is discharged from the folding and sealing mechanism it will remain between said mechanism and the drier until it is pushed into .the drier by the succeeding 'c'arand hence when each pusher becomes in-.

effective because the tail thereof has reached the recess 65, the carton which said pusher is acting on has already been carried between the belts 97, 98, and is being moved forward thereby. The first presser roll 99 is situated some little distance from the entering end of the belts 97 and 98, and the pulleys '100, 101 around which the belts pass are so spaced that each carton will be loosely held between the belts at their entering end, but there will be sufiicient engagement between the belts and the cartons to carry it forward. The belts 98, 97 willpreferably I be moving at a considerably slower rate of speed than the pushers, but because the packages are loosely held between the belts as they enter the same, this difference in speed between the pusher and the belt does not create any difiiculty. Before each carton reaches the first presser roll 99, the

pusher engaging, the carton has been released and is not effective in giving movement to the carton. The advantage of this construction is that each carton will be positively carried through the machine and into the drier so long as the machine is running without the necessity of any attention on the part of the operator in effecting a transfer from the folding and sealing mechanism to the drier of the last packages sealed.

The lower part of the guideway 34 is also vertically adjustable to accommodate different slzes of cartons. Depending from each end of the lower part of the guideway is a screw-threaded post 114 which has screw-threaded engagement with a nut115 in the-form of a bevel gear. The two bevel gears 115 are geared to bevel gears 116 on a shaft 217 so that by turningthe shaft 217, both ends of thelower part of the guideway can be raised and lowered simultaneously.

The feeding-in belt 15 and-the automatic stop are mounted so as to be raised and lowered with the bottom of the guideway and thus the adjusting of the guideway for different sizes of packages maintains proper x adjustment of the feeding-in belt.

I claimi 1. In a. package-sealing machine, the combination With flap-folding mechanism, of

, package feeding; means, a transferrer to a predetermined transfer packages from said feeding means to the flap-folding mechanism, a stop device to prevent packages from being delivered to said transferrer, and means other than the transferrer to render the stop device inoperative at a predetermined point in the cycle of operations. I I

2. In a package-sealing machine, the combination with flap-folding mechanism, of package feedi'ng means, a transferrer to transfer packages from the feeding means to the'flap-folding mechanism, a stop device which is held inoperative by the continuous feeding of packages to the transferrer but which becomes operative automatically to stop the movement of the packages I when the feed is interrupted, and means other than the transferrer to release the stop device at a predetermined point in the cycle of operations.

3. In a package-sealing machine, the combination with flap-folding mechanism, of package-feeding means, a transferrer to transfer packages from said feeding means to the flap-folding mechanism, a stop device to prevent packages from being delivered to the transferrer, a latch to hold said stop in operative position, and means other than the transferrer to release the latch at point in the cycle of operations.

4. In a package-sealing machine, the combination with flap-folding mechanism, of package-feeding means, a transferrer for transferring packages from the feeding means to the flap-folding mechanism, a piv-,

oted stop arm, a spring acting on said arm and tending to swing it into operative position to stop movement of packages, a latch to hold the stop arm in its operative position, and means other than the transferring device to release the latch at a predetermined point in the cycle of operations.

5. In a package-sealing machine, the combination with flap-folding mechanism, of package-feeding means, a transferrer to transfer packages from said feeding means to the flap-folding mechanism, a stop device ,w fto prevent packages from being delivered to said transferrer, driving means for operating the feeding means, and means actuated by said'driving means to render the stop device 1no erative at a predetermined point in the eye e of operations.

6. In a packagersealing machine, the combination with flap-folding mechanism, of

package-feeding means, a transferrer to transfer packages from said feeding means to thefiap-folding mechanism, a stop device to prevent packages from being delivered to the transferrer, a latch to hold said stop in operative position, driving meafisfor operating said feeding means, and means actuated by the driving means to trip the latch.

7. In a package-sealing machine, the combination with a conveying device, of means to prevent the package from tipping forwardly.

9. In a package-sealing machine, the combination with a guideway, of means to feed packages therealong, means for folding the front and rear flaps of each package as it travels along the guideway, side flap folders, and means to engage each side of the package at its top and hold said sides against the edges of the folded front'and rear flaps.

while the side flaps are being folded.

10. In a package-sealing machine, the combination with a guideway, of means to feed packages therealong, means for folding the front and rear flaps of each package, side flap folders, said guidewayhaving a lip to engage the side of the package at the top and hold it firmly against the edges of the folded front and rear flaps while the side flaps are being folded.

11. In a package-sealing machine, the

combination with a guideway, of means to feed packages therealong, means to fold the front and rear flaps of each package, two

side flap folders for folding the'side 'flaps of each package successively, and a presser r011 interposed between the side flap folders for pressing the first folded sideflap against the folded front and rear flaps.

12. In a package-sealing machine, the combination with a guideway, of means to feed packages therealong, means to fold successively the side flaps of each package as said package is fed along the guideway, and a fold-tightening wheel situated and constructed to engage the top edge of the package at the base of the last-folded side flap w ile said side flap is being folded.

13. In a package-sealing machine, the

combination with a guideway, of a conv'ey-- ing device to convey packages along the guideway, means to fold the flaps of the packages, and a drier having package-feeding means independent of the conveying device for feeding packages therethrough,

, the entering end of the drier being so sitmeans to fold the top flapsof each package,

a drying device comprising upper and lower conveying belts separate from said conveying device to drive said belts, said conveying device being arranged to deliver each package positively into the entering end of the conveying belts.

15. In a package-sealing machine, the

combination With a guideway, of a conveying device to convey packages therealong, means to fold the flaps of the packages, and a drier having package conveying means separate from said conveying device for conveying packages therethrough, said means being adjustable for different sizes of packages, the entering end of the drier being so situated relative to the delivery end of the guideway that each package will be fed directly into the-conveying means of thedrier by said conveying device.

16. In a package-sealing machine, the

combination with a guidevvay, of a conveying device to convey packages along the guideWay, means to fold the flaps of the packages, and a drier having means independent of the conveying device for feeding packages therethrough positively at a slower rate of speed than they are conveyed by the conveying device, the entering end of the drier being so situated relative to the delivery end of the guideway that each package will be fed directly into the feeding means of the drier by said conveying device.

17 In a package-sealing machine, the combination With a guideWay, of a conveying device to convey packages along the guideway, means to fold the flaps of the packages, and a drier situated in line with said guideway, said drier having means independent of the conveying device to feed packages positively therethrough, the entering end of the drier being so situated relative to the delivery end of the guide'way that each packagewill be fed directly into the feeding means of the drier by said conveying device.

In testimony Whereof,I have signed my name to this specification.

.HARRY L. JOHNSON. 

